Pooh's Mixed-up message
by Pre-Animation Man
Summary: A garbled telephone message throws everyone into a panic when they each think there is a problem with their part of the show.


"Hello? Hello? HELLO?"

Tigger was trying to talk on the telephone.

He was trying to talk to Pooh Bear. But there was too much noise.

Piglet was singing.

Elizabeth Brisby was riding his motorbike. Fievel Mousekewitz was playing the piano. Timmy Brisby was telling jokes and laughing as hard as he could. The Animals were getting ready for their big new show.

It was opening that night.

Tigger hung up the phone.

"Quiet, everybody!" he called. "I have something to tell you."

The Animals came over to hear Tigger. "What's up?" asked Elizabeth Brisby.

"I was talking to Pooh Bear just now," said Tigger.

"He said there is a big problem. The show might not go on tonight!"

The Animals could not believe their ears.

"What is the big problem?" Timmy Brisby wanted to know.

"Well, that is another problem," said Tigger. "I don't know.

I could not hear too well. There was too much noise. Pooh Bear said something.

It sounded like 'ife.'

Then he said something else.

It sounded like 'all.'

Ite. All. That is what I heard."

Ite. All.

What did Pooh Bear really say?

"We must figure this out," said Fievel Mousekewitz. "If we don't, there will be no show." The Animals were puzzled.

They were worried, too.

Piglet went to her dressing room. "Ite. All," she said to herself. "Pooh Bear must have been talking about me. After all, he always talks about me."

Piglet thought about it some more. "Ite sounds like termite! Termites are those ugly little bugs! All sounds like ball. I'm going to wear my pink ball gown tonight. Oh, dear! I know what Pooh Bear said. There are termites in my ball gown!"

Piglet ran over to her closet. She pulled out her pink ball gown. She shook it as hard as she could. Then she looked at it again and again and again.

"There are no termites in this ball gown," she said.

"I should check my other costumes." Piglet pulled another costume out of the closet — and another and another.

Soon the floor was covered with costumes.

Elizabeth Brisby was having a snack — oatmeal and peanuts.

He was thinking about Pooh Bear, too. "he. All," Elizabeth Brisby said to himself. "What does it mean? It's very strange. So maybe it's about me! Something is wrong with my tightrope I could fall!"

Ite sounds like tight.

All sounds like fall." Elizabeth Brisby jumped up.

"Hold it!" he said.

"I know what Pooh Bear said.

"This really is a big problem," he said. "My tightrope act is the best in the world. The show cannot go on without me."

Elizabeth Brisby began to check his tightrope. He pulled it down.

He pulled it all around.

He made a big mess.

Fievel Mousekewitz, too, was thinking about what Pooh Bear said.

"All? ife?" asked Fievel Mousekewitz.

"What does that sound like?"

He sat down at his small, white piano. He wanted to think some more.

"Wait a minute!"

Fievel Mousekewitz's ears stood up. "All and ife. That sounds like small and white! There must be a problem with my small, white piano!"

Fievel Mousekewitz opened up the piano.

He stuck his head inside.

"I must find out what is wrong," he said. "We can't do the show without music."

Timmy Brisby was standing in front of a mirror.

He wanted to practice his jokes.

But he was worried about the show. "What did Pooh Bear really say?" he asked. "lie. Ite. That reminds me of my new joke. It's about a kite in flight on a bright night. Great joke!"

Timmy Brisby thought about Pooh Bear some more. "All. All. Now that reminds me of another new joke. It's about the chicken that wanted to crawl to the tall wall in a shawl. Wocka, wocka!"

Suddenly, Timmy Brisby looked upset.

"Oh, no!" he cried. "Pooh Bear was talking about my new jokes. He does not like them. I have to find some others right away!" Timmy Brisby ran to the bookcase.

He pulled down all his joke books.

He pulled down all the other books, too. He was up to his knees in books.

Just then, Pooh Bear walked in the door. "Hello there," he called.

"Where is everybody?"

All the Animals came running.

They were all talking at once.

"Pooh Bear!" said Piglet. "There are no termites in my ball gown. How could you say such a thing?"

"My tightrope is fine," said Elizabeth Brisby. "Don't worry. I'm not going to fall."

"What is wrong with my small, white piano?" asked Fievel Mousekewitz. "It looks fine to me."

"Pooh Bear!" cried Timmy Brisby. "Why don't you like my new jokes?"

"Wait a minute!" said Pooh Bear. "What are you all talking about?"

"The big problem," said Tigger. "We want to know what it is. What did you say on the telephone?"

Pooh Bear looked at his friends.

"I said the lights in the big hall don't work."

The Animals looked at each other. Then they looked back at Pooh Bear. "The lights in the big hall don't work! What can we do?"

"We have to fix them right away," said Pooh Bear. "We can't do the show in the dark."

The Animals went to work. They looked at all the lights. They looked at all the wires. Everyone helped.

They finally found the problem.

Before long, the lights in the big hall went on.

"That is great!" said Pooh Bear. "Now let's put on our costumes. On with the show!"

The Animals' new was wonderful.

Piggy sang a song about a handsome She wore her pink ball gown. There was not one termite in sight.

Elizabeth Brisby rode his motorbike across the tightrope, He didn't fall at all.

Fievel Mousekewitz played his small, white piano.

It sounded grand.

Timmy Brisby told his joke about the kite. Everyone liked it.

Then he told the one about the chicken and the tall wall.

Everyone liked that one even more.

When the show ended, people clapped and clapped. They had a great time.

So did the Animals.

And it all happened one night under the bright lights in the big hall.


End file.
